


maybe we'll work it out

by gurlsrool



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Coming Out, Getting Together, M/M, Miscommunication, Unrequited Love, or so they THINK!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 02:32:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14864988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gurlsrool/pseuds/gurlsrool
Summary: It had been escalating since move-in day. Dex had had a plan, since he had first realized his feelings for Nursey last semester, which was to never think about them or acknowledge them ever. Nursey had his ways of unknowingly derailing that plan.





	maybe we'll work it out

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello long time no see! i have like 5 mostly done fics in my drafts and ive decided to finally actually post them before year 4 begins so it's a fic palooza i guess! the timeline of this is messy bc i wrote it RIGHT when we found out that dex/nursey were living together (ik its been too long) but before we found out jack/bitty would be out to the world senior year so whoops! tw for descriptions of biphobia/homophobia and mentions of alcohol use! enjoy enjoy! title from a fucking harry styles song!

It all escalates on Halloween.

To be fair, it had been escalating since move-in day. Dex had had a plan, since he had first realized his feelings for Nursey last semester, which was to never think about them or acknowledge them ever. Nursey had his ways of unknowingly derailing that plan but it was still his mantra, don't think, don’t acknowledge.

Now his mantra is _the rent is lower, the rent is lower, you need this_.

It’s been escalating since move-in day, since Nursey is shirtless half the time and it’s different than it is in the locker room because the space is less confined and he has places to look then, other than Nursey. He’s taken to just closing his eyes which is good because he’s been sleeping more.

Although he’s also been sleeping less deeply because Nursey alternates between talking in his sleep and snoring which means Dex alternates between slamming a pillow onto his own ears and throwing one in Nursey’s general direction.

It’s been escalating since move-in day but on Halloween it escalates to a degree Dex isn’t sure he can handle.

Dex is drinking a beer, one beer, because he’s not feeling it tonight. He’s dressed like a handyman and everyone keeps shouting at him that that’s a cop out but he doesn’t care. He hates Halloween. Nursey is dressed like a cat and he has eyeliner on and fuck. He takes a long sip from his red solo cup.

“Hey,” Jack comes up beside him. Dex startles for a moment because he forgot he was here. He’s been off with Bitty basically all night, “Bits said we should join the party,” Jack says even though Dex didn’t really ask for an explanation, “And Shitty dragged us out here,” he laughs, “I’ll probably retreat again soon though. I think I’m getting too old for these things,” he says, taking a sip of what is probably also his only drink of the night.

“Yeah,” Dex nods and looks up at Jack. He’s dressed like a football player, which is a lot for him, and he’s smiling widely now, gaze across the room. He follows his eyes to see Bitty, being thrown over Holster’s shoulder, shrieking.

“Put me down right now Adam Birkholtz!” Bitty screams and Holster just shakes him around in response so he calls out, “SAVE ME JACK ZIMMERMANN!” and Jack’s smile somehow gets even bigger and brighter.

For a moment, longer of a moment than Dex would like to admit, he hates Jack because he kind of has everything that Dex wants. He’s gorgeous. He’ll never have to worry about debt or rent or paying bills in his life and he never has. He’s a literal celebrity. He has a boyfriend who he loves who loves him. He has parents who accept them both. Dex hears Bitty talking to Bob or Alicia in the kitchen at least once a week.

“I should uh, go take care of that,” Jack says and Dex blinks himself out of it. “See you later,” he gives him a pat on the shoulder and jogs across the room. _You’re being ridiculous,_ he tells himself. It’s not like Jack’s life is perfect. He literally almost died and the media still treats him like shit and yeah, Dex is closeted, but his sexuality will never be an international news break waiting to happen.

Dex watches as Jack swings Bitty off of Holster’s shoulders and holds him in his arms a moment longer than he probably should. Dex lets himself sit in his jealousy of Jack for another minute, until it starts to completely consume him. It’s not like he wants Bitty, god, that would be like dating his dad. Not his dad, just a dad. The Haus dad. He just wants…

“Hey,” Nursey sidles up beside him, a little too close, and his breath is hot and suddenly Dex can’t breathe at all. “Dude… can I uh…”

There are a thousand ways Dex wants Nursey to finish that sentence. A thousand and one. Nursey doesn’t say any of them.

“Can I uh, have the room tonight? I know we didn’t like establish sexiling when Bitty made us make that 300 page roommate contract. Or maybe we did, I can’t remember, that thing is like 300 pages, you know,” he lets out a chuckle and his arm is against Dex’s so he can feel the laugh go through him.

Dex automatically scans the room, looks at all the girls clutching onto bottles and cups, and tries to figure out which one is into Nursey but it could be any of them, really, when Nursey says, “There’s this dude and he’s been like totally flirting with me all night but he’s in a quad so there’s no way we can go back to his place.”

Dex just stares ahead. He forgets to say anything, forgets that he’s supposed to. All his mind is saying is that Nursey is into men and obviously that makes sense, he’s literally wearing eyeliner right now, but Dex had led himself to believe that that was just Nursey being Nursey and he was in love with a straight guy. It makes his life easier, like one of the tragic gay dramas he watched when he was fifteen and learned about private browsing.

“Uh…” Nursey speaks up because Dex still hasn’t said anything, “He’s not like a freshman or anything if that’s what you’re thinking. Rent’s just lower for quads, y’know?” Dex says nothing, again. Now he’s telling himself to speak but still, nothing. “So… can I have the room? Just for tonight?”

“Oh, yeah,” Dex clears his throat, “It’s fine.” He brings himself to look at Nursey now. His eyeliner’s smudged because he’s a little sweaty from the party. He looks surprised. Dex realizes belatedly that he should have put up a fight for the show of it, said “It’s my room too” or “Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?” because really, where is he supposed to sleep tonight?

“Thanks for being so chill, dude,” Nursey gives him a pat on the shoulder, as bro like as Jack’s, which makes him cringe, and says, “I owe you one,” before taking off into the crowd to find the boy and take him up to his room. Their room. Fuck. He really needs another beer.

*

He’s really not that drunk later but he’s drunk enough to think that going upstairs is a good idea. He’s drunk enough to think it’s a good idea to spend more than thirty seconds outside of his bedroom door and hear the _noises_ of Nursey and the guy he had taken upstairs. Dex had caught a glimpse of him before they went up.

He was hot, Dex thinks, and suddenly, he’s away from his door and outside of Bitty’s, knocking hard. He was so hot.

“GO AWAY SHITS!” Bitty calls out and he sounds a little out of breath.

“It’s Dex,” Dex calls back. There’s muttering on the other side and Dex suddenly realizes how colossal of a mistake he’s made but it’s too late. Bitty comes to the door, shirtless, with an oversized flannel draped over his arms, cheeks flushed.

“Uh, hey Dex,” he smiles cheerily, “What’s uppppp?”

“Oh I’m… interrupting something, aren’t I?”

Jack comes up behind him, also shirtless. “You’re fine Dex.”

“No I’m definitely… uh…. I’m sorry.”

Jack gives him a concerned look before Bitty cuts in, “No! You’re not! Jack Zimmermann,” he rolls his eyes, “says I’m too drunk to do anything _fun."_  

Dex and Jack both go red at this. Jack clears his throat, “He’s far too drunk. We’re just eating pie so he can sober up some before we go to bed, seriously. What’s up?”

“Oh uh… I don’t have anywhere to sleep. Tonight. I gave Nursey the room.”

“Oh.” 

“Shitty and Lardo are on the couch and I can hear… you know… noises from them. Same with Chowder’s room. But I couldn’t hear anything in here so…”

“Because we’re eating pie!” Bitty exclaims, then adds, in what he probably thinks is under his breath “and unfortunately that is not a euphemism.” Jack frowns at him, “Kidding! Come in, come in, William Poindexter,” he pulls on his wrist, “We have so much pie.”

“I think Bitty has a sleeping bag in here somewhere,” Jack says and Dex follows him cautiously into the room. Jack looks through Bitty’s closet casually, like it’s his own, while Bitty hands Dex the pie he’s eating right out of the tin.

“Here we are,” Jack pulls it out of the closet, “He’s prepared for everything.”

“Yup,” Bitty pops the p, “So Dex. Dex, Dex, Dex,” he keeps his grip on Dex’s wrist, as Jack spreads out the sleeping bag and Dex sits on the edge of Bitty’s bed and with his urging, takes a bite of pie, “Why do you have such a sad face? I mean tonight. Not always. Well a little always but right now… you look really sad.”

“Oh. I’m…” fine. _Just say fine, Dex. You’re fine._ “I’m upset. At Nursey.”

“Mmm,” Bitty hums around a mouthful of pie, “What else is new? Wait. That was bitchy.”

The sleeping bag is spread out now and Dex loosens Bitty’s hand, stands up, paces to it, sits down. Jack sits down on the bed next to Bitty, gives Dex a thoughtful look. “What’s going on Dex?” he asks.

“I didn’t know Nursey was gay. Or into guys. Whatever,” he blurts out before he can stop himself. Fuck. Nursey is right. He’s such a lightweight. Jack and Bitty exchange a long look. Even with one of them drunk, they can still communicate telepathically.

“Is that…” Dex can tell Jack’s speaking very carefully, like he always does, “Is that a problem for you?” Dex looks between them. Bitty looks visibly uncomfortable. Jack looks like he’s trying to hide his discomfort and isn’t pulling it off very well.

_You don’t have to tell them_ , he tells himself. It’s not their business and it’s not like they don’t all already assume that he’s homophobic, that he’s a bad person. At least the second part is true. _You don’t have to tell them_ , he tells himself, but out loud he says, “I’m gay.”

And then he throws up in Bitty’s trash can.

Bitty’s by him immediately, rubbing his back, whispering in his ear that it’s okay.  

“I’m just drunk,” he says and he’s lying. He’s so so lying. “That’s all. I mean it’s true but I-”

“It’s okay Dex,” Bitty sits cross legged on the floor beside him and he reaches up, tugs on Jack’s leg so he comes down onto the floor and the three of them sit, cross legged in a little circle. It feels like the sleepovers Dex used to have, when he was little, before they were declared “too gay” for guys. “Thank you for trusting us.”

“Does anyone else on the team know?” Jack asks softly.

“Chowder,” Dex doesn’t make eye contact,“I told him late last year. No one else. And I mean no one, except this guy back home who I used to see, sort of, but otherwise I… no one.”

“Okay,” Jack nods, “We won’t tell anyone.”

Bitty follows his nodding, more rapidly, “Scouts honor! Aww look at us,” he grins, “One in four maybe more wasn’t a joke,” his eyes go wide, “Wow they should print that on the brochures.”

“Dex?” Jack asks quietly, “Why are you upset with Nursey?”

“What?”

“When you came in… you said you were upset with him.”

“Oh. Yeah. I just…”

“Oh my gosh,” Bitty gasps, “You like him! Like like! Holy shit everything makes sense now!”

“Bits-” Jack starts.

“No, it’s fine,” Dex lowers his head, “I mean it’s true.”

“Why are you so... uh, you know… rough with him?” Jack asks slowly. 

Dex looks back up, narrows his eyes, “Why were you so ‘rough’ with Bitty his freshman year? The guys have told me the stories.”

“Okay, okay,” Jack holds a hand up defensively, “Good point. But you also know how things ended up for me and Bitty,” he raises an eyebrow, “You know. Just something to think about. But I will say I mean… we only got here when I started you know… well, being his friend. It sounds harder but it really is easier that way.” 

“I should get to bed,” Dex tucks himself into the sleeping bag before either of them can respond. This time, he doesn’t say what he wants to. That it’s not the same for guys like him. That Nursey deserves better than him.

He glances up before Jack flicks the light off to see Bitty tucked into Jack’s arms, a small smile on his face, “We love you William,” he whispers and it’s so genuine that Dex’s heart gets stuck in his throat a little. He starts thinking about Nursey, down the hall, with another boy but finally falls asleep thinking about how sometimes, he misses his first name.

* 

When Dex wakes up the next morning, Jack is gone, probably on a run or something equally ridiculous, and Bitty is still passed out. Dex sighs in relief, rolls up the sleeping bag and leaves it at the edge of the bed, closing the door softly behind him. He heads downstairs, eyes to the ground, and in the process runs into a shirtless guy with a toothbrush in his mouth.

He’s tall. And probably strong enough to throw Dex out a window. And as Dex gets a better look at him, he realizes it’s the same guy Nursey led upstairs last night. The guy takes the toothbrush out of his mouth and Dex notices then that it’s bright green. It’s Nursey’s. “Oh, sorry dude.”

“It’s fine,” Dex mutters and brushes past him, settles down at the table, where Shitty is mostly naked and bickering with Jack while Lardo watches unamused, like they all still live here.

“I’m just saying,” Shitty gestures with his coffee mug, “You could take like one day off from running. You won’t die.”

“I know Shits,” Jack rolls his eyes, “Believe it or not, I like running. And besides, I woke up before everyone else, I had time to fill. It’s relaxing.”

“You could wake Bitty up,” Shitty raises his eyebrows, up and down.

Lardo rolls her eyes, “Let him live Shitty.”

“Oh my god-”

“Sex is cardio bro!” He exclaims, “And it’s relaxing, I’m just saying…”

Before Jack can respond, Nursey is jogging downstairs, the anonymous muscular dude behind him. Jack gives Dex a small frown and Dex really really wants to be invisible.

“Uh…” the guy looks around the kitchen, at Shitty and his nudity and then at Jack, as he starts to say, “Wait a second are you-” and now Dex really does feel invisible.

“Okay!” Nursey gives him a nudge, “See you later dude. We have like… hockey stuff to do. A meeting.”

“Oh…” the guy nods, “Okay. Later Derek,” he nods and heads out the front door. The second the door slams, they all turn on Nursey, ready to pounce for deets. Dex grabs a protein bar from the stash Jack still keeps and slips upstairs, quietly.

He heads to their room and Nursey’s bed is unmade, which it always is, but Dex knows what happened. Well, not all the details because he left for them but still… _the rent is lower_ , he tells himself. _The rent is lower, the rent is lower. You need this._

 *

For the next month, Dex manages to avoid everybody, just enough so everyone besides Bitty doesn’t really ask questions. He goes to practice and games but he stays in the library late, until Nursey goes to sleep. He skips kegsters. He says he’s picking up more shifts at his work study job at the tech department, hoping none of them realize that it’s against school policy to work more than 12 hours a week.

He hides because Halloween made everything real. He’s in love with Nursey but there’s no way he even likes him and even if somehow there was, he can’t date his roommate. He can’t do anything but hide.

Nursey notices. They’re bickering less because they’re seeing each other less. Dex doesn’t give him the chance to talk to him, doesn’t give him enough alone time to have the conversation. Nursey breaks one day, a few days before fall vacation, asks “What is going on with you dude? Are you like… okay?”

“Fine,” Dex grunts and unlaces his skates, “I’m just busy Nurse.” and Nursey nods and very obviously pretends he believes it.

And then Thanksgiving comes. Dex and Nursey haven’t been to Haus Thanksgiving before, but Nursey’s parents are off travelling and Dex’s car needs repairs he’s still saving up for so he can’t drive back. The library is closed. The tech department is closed. He has no more excuses to hide behind and he knows that Nursey knows it.

They bring out the side dishes while Bitty finishes up the turkey and the second Dex sits down, Nursey plops down right beside him. Fuck. He should have been more strategic.

“This blows,” Nursey whispers. Dex has no idea why he’s whispering but it makes him feel special. He always thought the lines in those gay dramas about hearts literally hurting were bullshit but he feels it now. “I hate not being home. I want my mom’s gravy.”

“Yeah,” Dex nods, “I miss my siblings.”

“That super blows. They must miss you a lot.”

“Uh…” _Do you miss me?_ Dex wants to ask. _You know that I’m gone but are you just concerned or do you miss spending time with me?_ “Yeah. They’re younger than me but we’re pretty close.”

“Yeah. I know,” he says because Dex doesn’t talk about his feelings, not in big bursts like on the night of Halloween with Jack and Bitty, but it’s their third year together and Nursey knows him. Bits and pieces all together, he knows him. Besides the fact that he’s gay and that he could never come out or he would never get to see his family again. Besides the fact that he’s kind of in love with him. He knows him.

“Okay,” Bitty claps his hands together from where he’s sitting. Jack has his arm around him since it’s just the team and they can be openly affectionate. Dex puts his jealousy aside for a second and thinks that they make a good couple. He wants that. Maybe it can’t be Nursey but he still wants it. All of it. Not just a boyfriend, but to be open about it, with his friends. He pushes the thought away as soon as it comes. “I will keep this short since I know y’all are hungry but I’m just… really, really glad you’re here,” he smiles up at Jack, “You’re the best family I could ask for.”

“Amen!” Shitty raises his wine glass, “Let’s fucking eat!”

“That wasn’t even a prayer,” Jack mutters.

“Yeah and you’re not even American!” Shitty calls out, “Turkey! Turkey!”

The plates go around and Dex offers the turkey to Nursey and he shakes his head, passes it onto Chowder. “I’m vegetarian now,” he tells Dex.

“Since when?”

Nursey shrugs, “Not long. A few weeks. Helps the animals and the environment. I thought you knew.”

“I must have forgotten.”

“Right. You’ve been so busy lately. I haven’t you know…really seen you.”

“Yeah. It’s… work is a lot. And classes are rough this semester. Apparently there’s a lot about comp sci I don’t know.”

“Really? You? The computer _genius_?”

“Shut up,” Dex grins and it’s more lighthearted than the way he usually says it to Nursey.

“Our first kegster you got drunk off your ass and called yourself that, dude!”

“I know, I know. Will you ever let me live that down?”

“Nope!” Nursey smiles and it’s too much, looking at him. It makes him think of all the smiles Jack and Bitty exchange, when they think they’re being subtle.  _You can’t have this_ , he reminds himself. _This life is not for you_.

He’ll keep going through college. He’ll study hard and he’ll work hard and he’ll get a good job. He’ll make good money and he won’t have a partner or kids so he can send a lot of it back to his siblings, just use the bare minimum for food and rent. It will be enough. He turns to Lardo and strikes up a conversation about the gallery she works at. She seems surprised that he’s showing interest but she talks about it anyways and he listens as much as he can while trying not to think about Nursey sitting next to him.

He doesn’t talk to him for the rest of dinner or during the Mario Kart competition afterwards. _Keep your head down_ , he reminds himself. And then, when a match between Ransom and Jack is getting particularly intense, he slips upstairs, quietly, presumably unnoticed.

He sits on his bed, head in his hands, breathing for a few long moments, when the door busts open and Nursey comes in.

“Okay dude, I’m done.”

“Uh… with Mario Kart?”

“With this bullshit. You can bicker with me all you fucking want but the silent treatment? The distancing yourself? You’ve been acting so weird since Halloween and at first I told myself that it was just you, that there was something going on in your life and it’s not about me but it is, isn’t it? You don’t like that I’m bi.”

“I… What?”

“I’m bisexual Dex and I’m into dudes and ever since I hooked up with that guy at the Halloween kegster you’ve been so fucking cold and I can’t do this anymore. I can’t live with someone who is like… disgusted by me, okay? It happened to me at Andover and it fucking sucked. No it more than sucked, it… I just can’t Dex, okay? I can’t keep pretending like I’m okay with this,” he sits down on his own bed, across from Dex, eyes brimming with tears,“I just can’t.”

Dex’s mind short circuits. He forgets how to breathe for a second and when he remembers how all he can manage to say is, “What happened at Andover?”

“Fuck, Dex, are you serious?” Dex says nothing, “My roommate was a homophobic piece of shit okay? He walked in on me with a guy and he freaked out and he told people… I mean like… everyone. That’s why I didn’t come out, when I came here. I mean, Shitty already knew from before and everyone’s chill with Bitty and Jack but like… I just didn’t want everyone knowing. I didn’t want something happening again,” he stands up and crosses the room, to the door, “Something like this.”

“Nursey wait-”

“I’m sleeping on the couch tonight,” he says, and closes the door behind him.

Dex is frozen. More frozen than he’s ever been before. He sits on his bed, in the middle in the same position, not moving. He knows he’s blinking and breathing but other than that, he’s still. There’s a knock on the door and he says nothing. Doesn’t move. It cracks open, softly.

“Dex,” a voice says and he was expecting Bitty because whenever anything happens, it’s always Bitty, but it’s Chowder, eyes wide. “Are you okay Dex?”

Dex shakes his head and isn’t sure if Chowder even sees it in the dark of the room but he comes further in, sits beside him. “Nursey came downstairs pretty shaken up and I asked what was wrong and he, um, said to ask you. I mean, he was being like angsty and not serious about it I think but I wanted to ask you. What’s going on Dex?”

Dex tells him all of it. That Nursey doesn’t know that he’s gay and not just gay but gay and into him and that now Nursey thinks he’s a homophobic douchebag, which is reasonable, but really he’s just so, so afraid.

“What are you so afraid of?” Chowder asks.

“Everything,” Dex says, because it’s true, “I’m afraid he won’t like me, that he’ll want better than me but I’m also afraid that he will. I’ve never… felt this way before and I just… I don’t know.”

“I think you do know Dex. Oh gosh that sounded a little mean didn’t it? What I’m saying is that I think you know what you’re afraid of and you don’t need to tell me any of it but you do need to tell Nursey. He’s really hurting and he deserves to know that you don’t like… hate him you know? Well I mean, you opposite of hate him.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey if it goes horribly, horribly wrong you can always crash with me till it blows over! It would be like a slumber party! Even if it goes well we should do it, it would be fun!” Chowder pauses and then adds, more quietly, “I really miss seeing you Dex.”

Dex smiles, “Yeah, I miss you too Chowder.”

* 

Dex waits until everyone clears out to head downstairs. Nursey is sprawled out on the couch, head on the arm rest, scrawling into a notebook.

“What are you writing?” Dex asks softly. Nursey freezes for a moment but tries to play it off casually, doesn’t look up.

“Something gay,” he says, “You wouldn’t like it.”

“Nursey.”

“You’re not going to reason with me on this one Poindexter. You can’t fight your way out of this.”

“No but I can explain.”

“Explain what? That you’re from a homophobic town in fucking Maine so that gives you the right to treat me like shit? You’ve been at Samwell for two and a half years bro. You have no excuses for not outgrowing this bullshit-”

“I’m gay,” Dex interrupts. He really, really wants to throw up. Nursey sets his notebook down, sits up slowly.

“What?”

“I’m gay. I mean, I totally get why you thought I was being homophobic and I’m really sorry, I am, but I… I’m gay. Okay?”

“Okay dude… sit down. This is weird with you like… fucking hovering,” Dex nods and sits down beside him, not too close, just in case, “So you’re gay.”

“Yeah.”

“And what you… like just realized or…?”

 No uh… I’ve known since I was thirteen?”

“Okay…” Nursey nods, “So you’re gay.”

“Yeah. You said that already.”

“That doesn’t explain why you were being so distant though dude.”

“Right,” Dex nods. _Be mature about this William._ “And I owe you an explanation for that,” he says, mostly to himself. “Because I’ve hurt you,” and saying it out loud makes how true it is really sink in. He’s hurt him. There’s this one person he wants nothing more than to love and care for and he’s done the exact opposite. Nursey doesn’t say anything, just waits, expectantly. Dex finally blurts it out.

“I like you. I mean, I like like you.” He cringes and he’s pretty sure he’s bright red now, “And seeing you with that guy… I just realized… I don’t know. I realized a lot of things. Like that you’re too good for me? I could never be as hot as that guy you’re with, or were with I don’t know, but also I’m just so… afraid all the time. Of being in a relationship, you know, and even though you never really came out you’ve always just been so… yourself and you deserve that in someone else.”

“Oh.”

 "I don’t expect anything from you Nursey. I mean, you’ve spent the last month thinking I’m a biphobe and even though that’s not true that’s a hard thing to just… erase and I was still shitty to you. I hurt you and that’s honestly the last thing I wanted to do, it was just so hard being around you and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I’ve been ignoring it for so long but just being with you, all the time? It was too much and-”

“Dex. You need to slow down bro,” Nursey says, “Can you just be quiet for a second?”

“I was just trying to explain-”

“Hey. No. I just… have something to say.”

Oh god, Dex thinks. He’s about to let him down easy. He’s about to look him in the eyes and say _I’m sorry but…_ and Dex can’t handle that. Dex really really can’t handle that. Why can’t he just go back to making himself forget?

“Dex… when you started distancing yourself from me it hurt because of what I told you, you know, like Andover and stuff. It’s hard. But it hurt even more because like… being totally convinced that the guy you’re into is a homophobe fucking sucks.”

Dex swears that his heart full on stops. He also swears that he’s dreaming because he has to be. There’s no way he’s not. “I… sorry?”

“I like you too Dex. Like like. I have for awhile, you know? This past month has sucked without you and I’ve been spending it trying to get over you and I was almost there but then at dinner tonight just talking to you, even for a second, brought it all back. That’s why I got so upset after dinner because I just… I couldn’t fucking shake you. God that’s cheesy, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Dex says quickly. He has no idea how he’s even forming a coherent sentence because his mind is just saying _holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit_ on repeat. “I was so in my head about everything I didn’t even think about how that might seem I’m so-”

Before he can finish Nursey’s kissing him. It takes Dex a moment but then he’s kissing back, back, back, and just like when Nursey laughs against him, whispers in his ear, he can feel it in his whole body. It’s all consuming and Dex never ever wants it to stop but after a few moments, it does.

“Dude,” Nursey pulls back and Dex braces himself for the _are you kidding this was all a joke, the whole time, you can’t honestly think that this is happening, that there is any universe where this would happen to you._ “What are we doing? We have a _bedroom_.”

“Oh,” Dex laughs, “Uh yeah, we do don’t we?” And really what is he doing? He can’t date his _roommate,_ he can’t date Nursey. He’s going to wake up tomorrow or in five minutes and realize he’s probably too good for Dex. Because he is.

Apparently his fear shows in his face.

“Hey,” Nursey holds a few fingers to his chin, far more delicately than Dex feels worthy of, “Whatever is going on in your head we can talk all about it in like an hour okay? Right now I like… really really want to make out with you. That work for you?”

“Uh…” holy shit, Dex thinks. He has so much to think about and figure out but holy shit, “Yeah that works for me.”

“‘Swawesome,” Nursey grins, standing up and offering Dex his hand, “So William,” he says, “Your bed or mine?”

“Mine,” Dex grins.

“Dude, no way! Mine is more comfortable, your mattress pad sucks ass!”

They end up not making it past the door. For once, neither of them can find it in themselves to complain.

**Author's Note:**

> ty for reading! im gaysun on tumblr! ily all see ya REAL soon bc hopefully ill be posting lots of fics before monday! :))


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